Daily Times

February 27 will always be remembered as a golden chapter in the history of Pakistan when our Air Force responded to the cowardly attack of the Indian Air Force in a befitting manner. The enemy attacked like a coward in the darkness of night while we gave the most lethal response in day’s light. The brave Shaheens of the Pakistan Air Force completely destroyed two fighter jets of India while also capturing Indian pilot, Abhinandhan, who fell down here in our land. This incident rightly proved the credentials of our armed forces once again. The whole episode of Abhinandhan was enough to tell the enemy that our brave soldiers are always ready to safeguard their motherland. The enemy shouldn’t forget that Pakistan Army is the force that strongly believes in the philosophy of martyrdom. It is a great honour for our soldiers to get the status of a martyr Their families also take it as a matter of pride.

Pakistan Army defeated all nefarious designs of the enemy through a smart war policy on February 27, 2019. Our brave pilots downed two fighter jets of India who tried to violate the airspace of Pakistan. The coward enemy orchestrated the drama of Pulwama and tried to attack our motherland in the darkness of night that was responded in day’s light some three years ago. All the Pakistani military had to do was mobilise and deploy its air force, which promptly shot down two over-eager Indian pilots and took one of them, prisoner. In one instance, the entire country was brought together, with social media trends; also suggesting that the people of Pakistan were eager to join the army in a fight on the ground if the enemy actually dares to trigger a war with its ground forces. The Pakistan Army always tried to give peace a chance but whenever there is a threat to our land and people, the same army responded in a befitting manner with an iron hand.

The night between February 25 and 26, 2019, India tried to launch a fake and fabricated operation in the Balakot area of Pakistan. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented it as a ‘surgical strike’ in front of the world to portray his country as a powerful force but it was all drama. He claimed to kill several “terrorists” there but the whole world has seen that there were destroyed trees and a dead crow only. It was a great pride for the people of Pakistan that our brave forces responded just after the gap of one day while destroying two fighter jets of the Indian Air Force. India begged for the release of its captured pilot Abhinandhan and Pakistan freed him on humanitarian grounds. It was a great gesture on the part of Pakistan.

The whole episode of Abhinandhan was enough to tell the enemy that our brave soldiers are always ready to safeguard their motherland.

Now, there are voices within India itself that Pulwama was the result of an internal conspiracy hatched by the Modi government. Many intellectuals of India have repeatedly said that Pulwama was orchestrated by Modi to defame Pakistan in the international world. He tried to create an environment of war with Pakistan but now he is exposed even within his own country. India should always remember that every soldier of the Pakistan Army takes an oath to defend the homeland both from the internal and external fronts. Therefore, history is a witness that the brave soldiers of our army fight till the last blood of their lives.

Rahul Gandhi, the leader of India’s main opposition party has sought proof from Modi regarding India’s surgical strikes in Pakistan. He also sought pictures of those who were killed in those strikes as India claimed to kill over a hundred people at that time. Gandhi made these demands in the parliament as well as in the public gatherings but Modi doesn’t have an answer as it was all drama that he orchestrated only to defame Pakistan but got exposed ultimately. Now, Chief Minister of Telangana Chandrashekar Rao also sought video proof from Modi regarding those surgical strikes that he claimed in Pakistan. Instead of giving him proof, the Modi government started labelling him as a traitor.

India will always remember February 27 as the day of its humiliation and defeat. The Air Chief named that operation “Swift Retort” when we downed two fighter jets of India while capturing a pilot. Our forces gave him much care as a prison when he was in our custody and it went very well in the international world that Pakistan also honours the war prisoners.

It can rightly be said that Pakistan Army is a professional army and it is the most vigorous and organized army in the world. The tales of bravery of the soldiers and officers of the Pakistan Army are taught in the war colleges of the world. The Pakistan Army wrote history in the treacherous mountain passes of the frontier region as it took on militants that gathered under the umbrella of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). It has also resolutely come to the country’s defence whenever called upon to do so. That is the biggest reason that our traditionally hostile eastern neighbour, which has more money, a much bigger army, and far more weapons, is always cut down to size whenever it dares to violate our territorial integrity.

When army officers take their commission they swear an oath to defend the motherland against all enemies, foreign as well as domestic. We owe them a debt of gratitude that no words can do justice to.

The writer is an old Aitchisonian who believes in freedom of expression, a freelance columnist, entrepreneur and social activist.